Tally



April 28, 1925.

M. TAYLOR- TALLY 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 15,, 1924 INVENTOR WITNESSES-S 1,535,383 M. TAYLOR .April 28, 1925.

TALLY Filed March 15, 1924 2 Sheets-$heet -2 WITNE as: s s

Patented Apr. 28, 1925.

MARSHALL TAYLOR, OF TITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

TALLY.

Application filed March To. (all whom it may concevm:

Be it known that I, MAnsrIALL TAYLOR, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny 5 and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Tallies, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to tallies, and particularly to tallies for various games similar to card games Where the entire number of players is divided into a number of groups, each group consisting of a plurality ofplayers, and it is desirable to liave'each player play With every other player during the progress of a series of successive games.

The tallies are specially adapted tornse with card games where there are a number of tables, a predetermined number of playcrs, say four players at each-table, and it is O desirable to have every player ip'lay with every other player as a partnerythroughout a series of successive games, and thatregardless of the winners or losers of'a preceding game.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a tally which designates the partners and the table of each player for everygame of a series of games and-assures each iplayers playing with every other player once as a partnerduring the progress of the series. I

It is also an object of the invention toiprovide a tally of this character which will assure a wide and substantially even distribution of the several players to the different tables throughout the series of games.

It is a special object to provide a tally which is simple in construction,easily manipulated, inexpensive to manufacture, easy to read, which is durable and adapted for reuse from time to time, and which may be set so as to display information relating merely to the particular game in progress and the next succeeding game.

It isfurther a special object to provide a tally having a series 01 groups of similarly disposed designating characters, which groups are arranged in sequence, and adapted to be successively displayed as the several successi ve games are played.

The accompanying drawings illustrate one of a set of tallies adapted for two tables of four players each, in which F 1 a plan view of one embodiment of the invention; Fig. 2 a plan view of the bottom disc with the top disc removed therefrom; Fig. 2:) a

, 1924. Serial No. 699,446.

sectional view taken on the line II'I- III of Fig. 1; Figs. t and 5 views corresponding to Flgs. l and 2, respect1vely, illustrating a modified form of the invention; and Fig. 6 a

'to each other.

The upper disc 10' is provided with a segmental openmg 4E0 and carries a designating character indicating the table at which this particular tally of the'set is to be em- .ployed. As shown, this character is in the form of the letter A, indicating that this tally is foruse on one of thetables, "for convenience called Table A, it being understood that the remaining'tab-les used would accordingly be termed Table B Table G etc., a separate tally properly marked being assigned to each of the respective tables.

The bottom disc 20 carries upon its face immediately underlying the disc 10 a plurality of characters and groups otp'eculia'rly arranged designating characters indicating the number of the game being played, the partners and opponentsparticipatingin such game, and the table (Whether A, Betc.) at which each player is to play duringjthe next succeeding game. There is one such group corresponding to each of the several games to be played, the several groups forming a sequence and are disposed circularly as are the characters designating the number of the game being played, in a mannerclearly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

These designating characters may be atfixcd to the discs in any suitable manner, being preferably printed on the face of the discs, and those on the lower disc are placed within a series of segmental blocks or spaces and 'Tdtormedby a plurality ofconcentric lines intercepted by radial lines, all as illustrated in Fig. 2, the inner block 60 being disposed in juxtaposition circumferentially of the disc, the upper blocks 'TObeing likewise disposed, with the inner and outer blocks comprising pairs with the blocks of each pair disposed radially of each other. Also, preferably, the area defined by each pair oi blocks corresponds substantially in outline and size to that of the opening 40 in the top disc 10.

The discs and may be made of various i'naterials suitable for the purpose intended, being preferably in the form of sheets of cardboard, celluloid, or similar material, and in order to cut off from View all of the pairs except the one exposed within the opening 4t, the top disc 10 is preferably made of a partially or wholly opaque material. v

lVithin each of the series pf the inner blocks is placed a designating character 80 indicating the number of the game being played. For convenience, the characters used for this purpose are comparatively large sized Arabic numerals. The tally as shown in Fig. 1 is set for use during the fourth game, hence the character 80 appears as the Arabic numeral t.

Each of the outer blocks also contains a number of characters for designating the players, their relative position at the table, as well as their partners and the table at which each is to play during the next game. These characters are arranged in sub groups or divisions spaced from each other and corresponding in number to the number of the players at each table, and the sub-groups are preferably disposed circularly with the outermost character of each sub-group indicating the player during the game indicated by the character within the inner segmental block 60, with the innermost characters of the sub-groups indicating the partner and table for the succeeding game, and with the sub-groups representing partners for the game in progress disposed diametrically opposite each other. F or example, as illustrated in Fig. 1, the four players for the fourth game in progress at Table A are designated by the characters 8, (i, t and 2, respectively, constituting the outermost characters of the four sub-groups, and the disposition of the characters S, and (3, 2 opposite each other shows that they are partners. The character A immediately adjacent 8 indicates that player 8 is to play the next game at Table A, and, character 5 adjacent 8 like wise indicates that player 8 is to play the next game with player 5 as a partner. Similarly, the disposition of the outermost character 6 and 2, opposite each other shows that these players are partners, and the innermost characters A and 7 adjacent 6 indicate that player (3 is to play the next game at Table A with player 7. and the innermost characters adjacent 2 that player 2 is to play with player 1 at Table P).

For convenience, each of the tables has been designated by means of a letter of the alphabet, appearing on the tally for that table, and the players as well as the series of the successive games by Arabic nu inerals, but it is obvious that designating characters other than letters or numerals may be adopted for the same purpose, if desired.

The occurrence and relative location of the characters in the successive blocks are such that each player plays but once with each other player during the series of games for which the tallies are designed.

The particular notation shown by the embodiments illustrated is designed for use in connection with two tables of four players each. Therefore, there are but eight players, and in order for each player to play with each of the seven remaining players but once, there are seven successive games indicated. It is obvious that the same scheme may be employed for any number of tables by merely increasing the number of pairs of blocks and 70, that is, for four tables of four players each there would be fifteen pairs of such blocks, and it is also obvious that for the last game of a series the innermost characters of the sub-groups are omitted from the outer block 70. As shown, in Fig. 2, the outer block for use in connection with the seventh game merely contains the characters designating the four players for that particular game.

After a game is finished, the several players either remain at the table where they are located, or pass to the next table indicated, as described, and the discs then moved to bring the data for the next game below the opening 40. In other words, after the fourth game is completed, the discs are moved so as to expose the next succeeding pair of blocks containing the numeral 5 within block 60 indicating the fifth game of the series.

Figs. t to 6 illustrate a modified form of the invention. The two discs in this embodiment are indicated at 10 and 20. which are connected by the eyelet 3t) and equipped with the o 'ieuiug H), as in the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 3. The disc '10 is slightly smaller in diameter than the disc 20, and is provided with a finger lug 91), which facilitates turning of the discs relatively to each other, in an obvious fashion, for the purpose of exposing the data for the successive games.

In the modified form, the outermost characters of the sub-groups for designa ing the players correspond to those in the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 3. Instead of indicating the partner for the succeeding game by one of the innermost characters of the sub-groups, however, such character is replaced in some instances by a (:l1z11- acter designating the table at which to play certain succeeding games under special circumstances only, thus in practical etlect iu-- dicating two series of successive games. For

instance, supposing'all'the male :players are designated by even numerals and the female players by odd numerals, and it is desired to play merely the games in which the partners are Off the opposite sex, namely, games 3, 5, 6 and 7, numerals in the inner blocks 60 for these games may be given a distinguishing color, as red, and the table at which the next game is to be played under these special circumstances indicated by the inclusion of a correspondingly colored letter comprising one of the innermost characters of the sub-groups. The coloring of the characters in this distinctive manner is shown in the drawings by enclosing the several characters so colored within a dotted circle. This is clear from an inspection of Fig. 5 wherein the coloring of the numeral indicating the third game shows that this is the initial game to be played in case it is desired to play only games with mixed partners, and that the fifth, sixth and seventh games are next to be played in the order named. An inspection of the data in the outer block of the third game also shows by the colored innermost characters of the sub-groups at which table the next game under these circumstances is to be played.

However, in case it is desired to use the embodiment of Figs. 4; to 6 for playing the entire series oi games as pointed out in connection with the form first described, the same may be used in a like manner, the table at which the succeeding game is to be played being indicated thereon by the letter of nondistinctivecolor. With the modified form, the information concerning the distribution oft the partners for the next game is obtained after moving the discs the next step to ex pose the data for the succeeding game.

It is apparent that many changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the several parts and characters without departing from the spirit of the invention, and that the forms described and illustrated are merely representative of con structions embodying the invention. It therefore not intended to limit the invention beyond that particularly defined and pointed out by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A tally set comprising a series of tablets each having thereon lines of designating characters, one line indicating consecu tively the number of games to be played, another indicating the players and their partners at each of the games, the characters in the last said line comprising a series of groups with one group associated with each of the characters of the said first line.

2. A tally set comprising a series of tablets each having thereon a plurality of lines of designating characters, one line indicating consecutively the number of games to be played, another indicating the several .play ers and their par tnersateach of the games, the characters in the last said line forming a series of groups with a group adjacent each of the characters'ot the first line, each group being composed of subgroups ordivisions corresponding in number to the number of players during each game.

A tally set comprising a series of tablets each having thereon a plurality of arcuate lines of designating characters, one line indicating consecutively the number of games to be played, the other indicating the several players and their partners at each of the games, the characters in the last line being in the form of a series of groups one of said groups being disposed radially opposite each ofthe characters of the first line.

l. A tally set comprising a series 01"? tablets each having thereon a plurality of adjacent arcuate lines of designating characters, one line indicating consecutively the number of games to be played, the other indicating the several players and their part- 11ers at each of the games, the characters in the last line being in the form of a series of groups, one of said groups being disposed radially opposite each of the characters of the first line, each group being sub-divided into a plurality of separated divisions corresponding in number to the number of players during each game.

5. A tally set for card games comprising a series of tallies, each consisting of a pair of circular disks pivotally connected at their centers, the upper disk being provided with a window-opening and bearing a designating character indicating the table at which the tally is to be used, the lower disk having thereon circular lines of characters, one line indicating consecutively the number of games to be played, another indicating the players and their partners at each of the games, the characters in the last line being in the form of a series of groups with one group radially disposed with respect to each of the characters in the first line, the opening in the upper disk being so disposed as to overlie the characters in both said lines.

6. A tally set comprising a series of tab lets each having thereon a plurality of lines of designating characters, one line indicating consecutively the number of games to be played, another indicating the several players and their partners at each of the games, the characters in the last said line forming a series of groups with a group adjacent each of the characters of the first line, the first line of characters being identical on all of the tablets of the set, while the lines of. groups of characters are different on each of the tablets of the set.

7. A tally comprising a pair of superposed relatively movable disks operatively connected to form a unit, the lower disk lltl having thereon a plurality of series of assotively exposing to View the associatedI chareiated designating characters, one series in asters of both said series.

dieating consecutively the number of games In estin'mny whereof, I sign my name. to he played, another of said series indieatting the players and their partners at each MARSHALL TAYLOR- of the games the upper disk being provided lVitness:

with nieans for simultaneously and selee- EDWIN O. JOHNS. 

